Revising Blues

I decided this morning to revisit IF I COULD BE WHERE YOU ARE, the novella I wrote, and do a complete read-through. So I waded through 135 pages making corrections as I went. Then after I had finished and was feeling satisfied with my work, I noticed in my file that I had missed IF I COULD BE WHERE YOU ARE TWO, which was happily sitting in the folder the whole time. I had revised the wrong one. Now I'm on page 86 of revising the second revision. It was pretty disheartening for a moment.

I decided to turn to IF because I was so frustrated with AUDRA PHIPPS. I just don't know where I'm going. Monday I wrote one sentence. "The scrubby trees whipped past." (She's in a car.) Argh! Is this what it will be like in Vermont? I may have to come up with another idea quickly if AUDRA PHIPPS is going to be like laboring through quicksand. Now it feels like I'll never write anything good again. Kim and I were talking about that feeling. Sometimes it's a cruel, cruel world for writers. Other times it's worth every bit of toil, for the satisfaction of writing a good sentence.

Kim and I went for another long walk last night while the fellas played World of Warcraft. This time we took the dogs, who were very good on the walk. You feel pretty protected with two pit bulls on the leash. People made careful detours around us. Especially a lady with a little dachshund. We visited Carolyn after the walk and saw pictures of the little baby she's going to have. In September they find out if it's a boy or a girl.